


a hurricane that started turning

by missbecky



Category: Kingsman: The Secret Service (2015)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Angst, Fluff, Hartwin Secret Santa, M/M, References to Child Abuse, Soulmate-Identifying Marks
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-23
Updated: 2015-08-23
Packaged: 2018-04-16 16:42:11
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,634
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4632567
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/missbecky/pseuds/missbecky
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>There is no sound, but he can hear it anyway, two halves locking into place. That vague sense of his soulmate, that connection that has bound them together all his life and turned his soulmark red, has just been fulfilled. He feels more alive in this moment than he has in all the twenty-three years that came before it combined.</p>
            </blockquote>





	a hurricane that started turning

**Author's Note:**

  * For [KagekaNecavi](https://archiveofourown.org/users/KagekaNecavi/gifts).



Eggsy is born with his soulmark, a tiny black stain above his heart. This isn't unusual. All it means is that his soulmate is already born and waiting on him. Somewhere out there, maybe even in the same hospital, there is a boy or a girl who is connected to him, one half of a whole.

No one can predict what a soulmark will turn out to be – they're all just smudges, really, until you actually meet your other half. That doesn't stop a whole industry of people from spending their days studying the marks on young children and analyzing them. Eggsy's dad doesn't believe in that kind of stuff, but Michelle Unwin sneaks her son out one day to a lady who claims to be able to tell what a soulmark will become. She spends money the Unwins can't afford to be told confidently that the little blur above Eggsy's heart will one day be a crown. He's going to be a strong, powerful leader, the woman assures Michelle.

Eggsy, only two years old at the time, just sits in the corner and solemnly tries to stack two blocks together.

****

When Eggsy is five, a stranger in a suit comes to their flat and tells them what his mum has already known for a whole day: Lee Unwin is dead. The stranger gives Eggsy a medal and touches him on the shoulder. When he does, something warm and painless shivers through Eggsy's entire body.

That's the day his soulmark changes. It's not black anymore; now it's a deep, rich red color. His mum spots it when she's undressing him for his bath that night, and she cries out and clasps both hands to her face.

Her shock is the last straw on top of a day filled with confusion, his mum crying all the time, and lots of strangers and well-wishers coming and going. Eggsy bursts into tears.

His mum is quick to hug him and reassure him that he didn't do anything wrong. It's just unusual, she says, especially for it to happen this early in life. His connection to his soulmate is so deep that they will share their lives even before they meet. It's not unheard of, but it's not very common.

"You're very special, babe," his mum tells him, and he snuggles up against her and wishes he could stay like this forever.

****

Eggsy is sick a lot as a child.

Not really sick, though. Not really. It's his soulmark, the promise of that red color coming true.

His mum explains it to him one day when he's lying in bed, curled up around a pain in his chest he can't even describe, can only cry over. It's because he's so deeply connected to his soulmate that he can feel echoes of their distress. Whenever they are in pain, either mental or physical, he can't help but respond.

One of his mum's friends suggests that his soulmate lives in a country far away, someplace not as nice as England. Where there's lots of bad things happening, things with ugly names like war.

Eggsy accepts this – until Dean enters his life.

Everything changes then. Once Dean is in the picture he rather suspects that his soulmate, whoever they are, is now the one getting those phantom pains, those unexplained aches and sleepless nights. He wonders then if his soulmate has their own Dean in their life, if that's the reason for their pain.

Weirdly enough, sometimes the two coincide. He's thirteen the first time Dean puts him in hospital. Halfway there, his mum driving him, crying so hard her makeup is streaked all down her face, _Eggsy why can't you just be good_ , and he feels a sudden pain that isn't his. That pain has nothing to do with the beating he just received. It comes solely from the mark above his heart.

("It distracted me," he's told later, so much later. "I felt your pain and it made me careless, and so they shot me.")

****

When he finally makes that phone call, the one he's held off making for so many years, Eggsy is convinced he's blown it. Thrown away his last chance. He doesn't put two and two together as he's told there won't be any charges filed against him and he's free to go. Even when he steps out into the morning sunshine, he still hasn't figured it out.

"Eggsy. Would you like a lift home?"

The voice that speaks his name is deep and cultured. And it sends shivers rushing through him.

He turns around. 

The man standing there so casually looks back at him. Eggsy feels it then, a jolt of electricity throughout his entire body. The spot above his heart suddenly glows warm all over. It all passes in an instant, but when it's gone, everything is changed forever.

He's just met his soulmate. He's heard about it all his life, that moment of recognition and the way it will make you feel. There are a million songs and poems and movies written about the meeting of two soulmates. Certain clichés about it have become part of pop culture; everyone thinks they know what to expect, and how it will feel.

And every single one of them is wrong.

Mostly what Eggsy feels is a sense of wholeness, a _coming together_. There is no sound, but he can hear it anyway, two halves locking into place. That vague sense of his soulmate, that connection that has bound them together all his life and turned his soulmark red, has just been fulfilled. He feels more alive in this moment than he has in all the twenty-three years that came before it combined.

And yet he's also in shock. Because _no way, no fucking way._

They stare at each other, Eggsy and this stranger who is his soulmate, and he demands, "Who are you?"

The man gazes at him for a long moment. Behind his sunglasses he seems shaken. Whoever he is, he felt it, too. This man with his posh suit and his umbrella and designer shades, is his soulmate. Twice his age and ridiculously fit, standing there and staring at Eggsy like he's trying to catch his breath.

"The man who got you released," his soulmate says finally.

"That ain't an answer," Eggsy fires back, because apparently even when he's just met his soulmate, his damn mouth just keeps on running.

"A little gratitude would be nice," says his soulmate, cocking his head ever so slightly. He seems to have recovered from the shock of meeting Eggsy; his voice is smooth as silk as he says, "My name is Harry Hart. I gave you that medal. Your father saved my life."

****

After Harry takes out Rottweiler and his gang in the pub, Eggsy thinks this is it, this is when they'll talk about the fact that they are soulmates. Harry will mention it first, or maybe Eggsy will get up the nerve to say that he although he doesn't remember Harry from all those years ago, he _does_ remember the shock of seeing his soulmark change color.

Instead Harry tries to shoot him with another amnesia dart, and Eggsy finds himself pleading for mercy.

And Harry Hart, his newly-discovered soulmate, fucking _leaves._

But not before clasping him on the shoulder. Eggsy can't help flinching back a little at first – a life with Dean plus the violence he just witnessed don't exactly put him in a very touchy-feely mood. Nonetheless, he sits still as Harry's hand closes over his shoulder.

And he feels another one of those warm surges of electricity rush through him. His soulmark seems to glow again, a source of heat deep in his chest. He's only known Harry Hart for an hour, and yet the touch of Harry's hand feels _right._

It only lasts a second, but when Harry's touch withdraws, Eggsy feels utterly bereft. Cold. Lonely. He watches Harry walk away and it's all he can do to stay where he is and not leap up and go after him.

That's when he knows beyond a doubt that he is totally fucked.

****

Despite the twin shocks of first finding his soulmate, then being abandoned by him (and who the _fuck_ does that anyway??), Eggsy doesn't linger in The Black Prince. He knows perfectly well that he needs to be as far away from here as possible when Rottie and the others wake up.

He hurries down the street, headed for a pub a few blocks away. He's gone there a few times with Jamal and Ryan on nights they've felt particularly adventurous. It's just far enough away that he has time to calm down. A little.

So he met his soulmate. Who just so happens to be a posh tailor twice his age. Although if Harry Hart is actually a tailor, then Eggsy is actually Iggy Azalea. Because Eggsy may have never met a tailor before, but he's pretty damn sure that none of them could do what Harry just did in that pub with nothing more than an umbrella. A bulletproof umbrella that shoots like a gun.

"Fucking hell," he mutters.

He enters the pub and heads straight for the gents in the back. At this time of day it's thankfully empty. No one is there to witness as he yanks his collar down so he can see the mark above his heart. It's not warm anymore, a tangible sign that his soulmate is not here right now.

As if he needed a reminder.

For a long moment Eggsy just stares at the red mark on his chest. Then he starts to laugh.

Thousands of people spend money every day in order to find out what their kids' soulmarks are going to be. It's all fake, everyone knows that, though. All those people claiming to be able to predict what a blurry smudge will become are just frauds.

Except maybe not. Apparently Michelle Unwin happened to find the only person in the entire world who knows what she's talking about. Because there's no denying it. That red smudge above Eggsy's heart has found its shape.

And it is most definitely a crown.

****

He takes his time returning home. His steps are slow as he tries to figure out what to do next. He has no idea how he's going to explain to his mum that he just met his soulmate – and that it's the same man who told them about Lee.

At least he knows why his soulmark changed color that day.

He has to see Harry Hart again. That much is clear, if nothing else. He's been made whole on this day. Maybe Harry can just walk away like nothing happened, but Eggsy sure as hell can't.

He's still thinking about all that when he gets home and the shit with Dean goes down. When he hears Harry's voice summoning him to the tailor shop, Eggsy feels a rush of savage joy course through him. Of course Harry didn't abandon him. He was an idiot to ever think that.

He nearly laughs out loud as he runs out the door and leaves the dingy flat behind for what he fervently hopes is the last time.

****

And so Eggsy becomes a part of Kingsman.

He loves his new life, this crazy world of international gentleman spies. Even Charlie and his mates don't really faze him all that much. Roxy is aces and Merlin is cool and all in all Eggsy is happier than he's been in a really long time.

The only fly in the ointment, ironically enough, is the one thing that's supposed to make him happy. His soulmate. Harry fucking Hart.

They don't see each other very often. It's surprisingly uncommon for him to feel a sudden warm glow in his chest and look up to see Harry. Usually Harry is only there to speak to Merlin, and he spares the recruits a passing glance, nothing more. If his gaze lingers on Eggsy any longer than the others, Eggsy sure as hell can't tell.

Once or twice they do actually meet each other, but it's always in passing in the hall, so even then they don't talk. Harry has yet to even reference the fact that they are soulmates so deeply connected their soulmarks are red. (Eggsy hasn't seen Harry's, but he has no doubt about the color.) He had thought they might talk about it on the surprisingly long shuttle ride from Savile Row to HQ, but instead Harry had spent that time telling him about Kingsman and what would be expected of him during his training.

It's fine, though, Eggsy thinks. For now it's enough just to have Harry in his life. They can talk later. There's plenty of time.

****

Then one morning everything changes. He's out running the track, full kit on his back and JB straining at the leash. One moment he's jogging along, same as usual, and then suddenly the whole world explodes around him. He staggers, caught in a blinding wave of violence and fire.

He feels himself fall, but he's powerless to stop it.

When he wakes up, he's in the Kingsman infirmary. There's nothing wrong with him, and yet he feels so tired, like there's a dreadful weight resting on him, dragging him down.

It's Harry's coma, he finds out a little bit later. He's feeling the effects of it.

He stands there in Harry's room, and he feels like he could just slump to the floor and sleep for days. That missing half of him is still there, but it's cold and numb now. It frightens him badly, enough to make him plead for Merlin not to say anything to anyone else.

"I can still do it," he says. "I won't let you down."

"I know you won't," Merlin says. "Just focus on the tests. Make him proud."

After that Eggsy has to work twice as hard as everyone else, pushing himself past the lethargy that grips his mind and weighs down his limbs. But he never says a word of complaint. The bond between them is both a curse and a blessing. As long as he feels this way, that means Harry is still alive.

He visits Harry whenever he can, which isn't very often; Kingsman keeps their candidates on a tight schedule. But Merlin, who is probably the only one to know the truth, takes pity on him and grants him the occasional free hour or two.

Whenever that happens, Eggsy goes straight to Harry's room. He's read that coma patients can sometimes hear what's being said to them, and it seems to him that one soulmate should definitely be able to hear the other. So he talks to Harry, telling him about the training, JB, and the other recruits. He tells Harry how Charlie still makes fun of him for fainting that morning on the track, but that Roxy is quickly becoming his best mate. Her soulmark is blue, Eggsy tells an unconscious Harry; her bond is platonic only.

He never does move Harry's hospital gown aside and check for the soulmark he knows is there, a red crown to match his own. 

It's hard not to, though. Really hard.

Then comes another morning when everything changes without warning. He's in the middle of taking an exam when he blinks and suddenly that oppressive weight is lifted from him. The room seems lighter, and he can think again. He's been put together again, made warm and whole once more.

He knows exactly what this means. Tears of relief blur his vision, turning the test in front of him into a useless jumble of marks on the paper. He has to reach up and hastily wipe at his eyes before anyone sees.

After the test, he isn't at all surprised when Merlin asks him to remain behind when the other candidates are dismissed. "Harry's awake," Merlin says. "But I expect you already knew that."

It's the first time anyone has even mentioned the fact that he and Harry are soulmates. Eggsy nods. "Yes, sir."

"He's asking for you," Merlin says. 

Here it comes, Eggsy thinks. They're finally going to talk. He walks in and the sight of Harry standing there in a red robe, his hair still damp from a shower, is enough to make him feel giddy with joy. His soulmark glows on his chest, warm and content. Harry is awake and he's okay, and all is right with the world just then.

So naturally that's the moment Richmond Valentine enters their lives, and everything starts to slowly but surely fall apart.

****

They don't hit rock bottom, though, until Eggsy fails to shoot JB and he's delivered in shame to Harry's house. Then they stand there in front of a dead stuffed dog, and hurl hateful words at each other.

Each one cuts deeper than any knife.

At the end of it, they're both dripping blood, and Harry is ready to leave yet again, this time flying off to Kentucky to confront Valentine. And Eggsy really truly can't do this anymore, can't pretend that Harry is just another bloke, can't pretend that his entire being doesn't cry out to love this man and be loved by him in return.

"So that's it then?" he says bitterly. It's strange how he can feel so right, having Harry here with him, but at the same time be so full of ugly things, too. Harry is his soulmate. He's not supposed to be angry with him, to even hate him a little. "You're just gonna go? We ain't gonna talk about this?"

"Talk about what?" Harry asks.

"This," Eggsy says. He puts his hand on his heart, right where his soulmark is. It feels warm beneath his shirt, the way it always does whenever Harry is nearby.

Harry looks uncomfortable. For the first time Eggsy considers how weird this must be for him, having a soulmate half his age. A soulmate who is the son of the man who sacrificed himself so he might live.

Eggsy firms up his jaw and waits. Weird or not, they need to discuss this. No way in hell is he letting Harry walk out on him again.

Seeing his determination, Harry's shoulders slump. "All right," he says. He holds out one hand in an _after you_ gesture.

Yeah. That's good. This ain't exactly the kind of conversation you're supposed to have in a bathroom. Bad enough that they already said all that awful stuff to each other in here.

Once they're standing in the living room, Eggsy gets started right away. "Is that true? What you said? That you're just tryin' to repay my dad?"

"Of course not," Harry says. He's still holding his glasses.

"Then what?" Eggsy demands. "We're supposed to be soulmates. But you won't talk to me. What the hell am I supposed to think?" Even yesterday, the 24 hours he had spent with Harry, hadn't seen them talk about it, even though Eggsy had tried at least twice to bring it up.

Harry's eyes flash. Their argument is still too close; it's too easy to get angry again. "Do you think this has been easy for me, Eggsy?"

"I wouldn't know," Eggsy snaps. "You never fuckin' talk to me!"

"How would it look," Harry says, a little too loudly, "if we were seen talking together? Once the truth comes out about our bond, they will go back and scrutinize every interaction we ever had." He pauses a little to let that sink in, and when he resumes speaking, it's in a normal tone once more. "If Arthur decides that I helped you, that I used our connection to get you into Kingsman, you would be dismissed immediately, and most likely myself as well."

That shuts Eggsy up. He never considered that.

"I'm trying to protect you," Harry says, more patiently. He looks at Eggsy, and for the first time since their bond formed beneath the London sun, he doesn't try to hide the warmth and affection in his eyes. "Did you really think I didn't care about you?"

Eggsy looks away. He _did_ think that, although now he can't believe he did. It's such a shitty thing to do. Harry would never. They're _soulmates._

"Eggsy." He turns blindly toward that voice, the first word he heard his soulmate say to him.

He doesn't know who makes the first move. It doesn't matter. Somehow he ends up in Harry's arms -- and the rest of the world just falls away.

It's everything he ever wanted. Wrapped up in Harry's arms, he feels safe and warm. It's not a feeling he's very familiar with.

"Oh my dear boy," Harry says, and a little shiver runs through Eggsy.

He squeezes his eyes shut and concentrates on how it feels to finally be this close to Harry. The bond between them enfolds them both. He can feel Harry's heart beating, hear his breath, smell his cologne. Harry's arms are strong about him, promising to keep him safe.

In that moment, Eggsy is the happiest he has ever been.

It doesn't last. Harry's glasses chime as Merlin asks how long until he arrives at HQ. Harry puts them on long enough to respond, then removes them again. He looks at Eggsy.

 _I don't want you to go,_ Eggsy thinks. He won't say that, though. He won't be weak, he won't be the reason Harry Hart shirks his duty for the first time in his life.

But he can't help feeling a terrible, crazy fear welling up inside. Even the thought of Harry leaving him to go to Kentucky fills him with dread. It's not just the separation from his soulmate, either. He is certain of it.

Something bad is going to happen in Kentucky.

Maybe Harry feels it, too. They're connected, after all. He cups Eggsy's face in one hand. "Stay here," he says. "I'll sort this all out when I get back."

Eggsy just nods, helpless to do otherwise.

Harry smiles at him. "We'll be all right," he says.

****

Watching Harry in the church is horrible, but worse, far worse, is the way it makes Eggsy feel. It's like he's separated from his own body. He can feel the pain in his chest growing steadily worse as Harry's injuries mount, but it's like it belongs to someone else. It's not his pain. He's not really here.

This, then, is what it feels like when your soulmate isn't in control of themselves.

In agony he watches as the pastor dies and Harry slowly comes back to himself. As he does, Eggsy feels his awareness of himself and his surroundings creep back until he feels normal again.

By then Harry is headed out of the church, the view from his glasses slightly wobbly, as though he's unsteady on his feet.

He goes outside, and Eggsy sees Valentine standing there, and his blood runs cold. He tries to call out a warning, but it's not like Harry can hear him. Still he tries anyway, silently screaming over their bond for Harry to be careful, please be careful, _please._

It all happens so fast.

"Well this ain't that kind of movie," Valentine says, and he shoots Harry.

Eggsy is already screaming. Scarlet pain tears through him, leaving him blind and deaf in its wake.

And utterly alone.

Harry Hart, his soulmate, is dead.

****

He's heard of people going numb with grief, but that doesn't happen. Instead the pain only gets worse and worse. It's like half of himself has been ripped away. Most of the pain is centered around the soulmark over his heart, but it's in his head too, a sick throbbing that beats in time with his damaged heart.

He's not sure how long it's like that. It feels like forever. For an endless span of time it's all he can do just to breathe, to remember how to live. When he finally comes back to himself, he's lying on the floor beneath Harry's desk, curled up as tight as he can. The tears are still wet on his face.

He always wondered how his mum could have gone from loving her soulmate to settling for a life with Dean and drug use. Now he knows. He too would do anything to soothe the terrible pain inside him, to fill that missing half of himself. Even a false love would be better than knowing he's got nothing to look forward to for the rest of his life except this lonely anguish.

Lots of people kill themselves when their soulmates dies. They can't handle the pain, that feeling of being torn in half. It's not a road he'll go down, but Eggsy understands it now, why people would do it. Pop songs would make you believe it's romantic, one last kiss to a dying love, but he knows better now.

He never got to kiss Harry.

The thought sets him off again, one hand pressed to the red crown on his chest, the other covering his eyes. He sobs for all the things they never had the chance for, all the things they'll never get to do. No good-night kisses, no lunch dates, no standing there impatiently while Harry ties his shoes. No putting his hand on Harry's thigh at the cinema. No waking up in the middle of the night to sleepy kisses and hands on his body. No walking through the park, no shopping for bread, no fighting over the radio station when they're stuck in traffic on the M25.

He'll never get to love Harry, never be loved by him. He's known his soulmate for less than six months.

It would have been kinder if they had never met.

He remains on the floor even after he's cried out, his eyes red and swollen, his face puffy. He doesn't think he has the strength to stand up. If he stands up, he's going to have to get moving and take that first step into a life without Harry. And he really doesn't think he can do that.

In the end what finally gets him on his feet again is the thought of Valentine getting away with it. The clock is ticking and V-Day is coming, seven billion innocent people subjected to the same horror Harry experienced before he died. Eggsy can't let that happen, no matter how much he's hurting.

So he gets up. He dries his eyes and he leaves Harry's house – but not before making himself a promise to come back.

And he goes to Kingsman.

****

It's not until he's in the room with Princess Tilde that he realizes what is happening to him.

Ever since witnessing Harry die, he's been in pain. During the flight to Russia and the fight with Valentine and his men, there was no time to spare to think about it, to understand what he was really feeling. By this point he half-expects it to never go away, that he'll always feel the loss of his soulmate burning in that missing half of himself.

But he's coming off the adrenaline high now, and reality is crashing back in, and as Eggsy stares blankly at Tilde's inviting rump, he suddenly gets it.

It's like all those times when he was "sick" as a child, brought low by the pain in his soulmark. He understands now what happened then, that he was merely feeling an echo of whatever Harry was going through at the time, out there on a mission for Kingsman. When Harry was injured, or forced to make some terrible decision that distressed him, Eggsy had felt it.

As he feels it now.

Dead men don't feel pain. By all rights Eggsy should only feel loss right now, and grief. Instead he wants to slide down the wall and curl up around the pain in his chest. The pain that lingers in his head.

Like he's been shot.

"What are you waiting for?" Tilde asks with a sly smile.

Eggsy just looks at her. "Sorry, love," he says. His heart is racing. He can't believe he missed it before now. "I gotta go."

He doesn't wait around to see her reaction. He turns and runs out of her cell and through the halls of Valentine's bunker. A minute ago he felt like he was poised over a deep chasm, like he could just pitch forward and fall in. Now his whole body hums with energy. The pain in his chest is a goad, spurring him on, giving him desperate hope. He puts the Kingsman glasses on and shouts, "Merlin! How do I get back?"

He's got to find Merlin. He's got to tell him.

Harry is still alive.

****

With all the shit that goes down after V-Day, it's five days before Eggsy can see Harry again. Five days. One hundred and twenty hours.

They're the longest five days of Eggsy's life.

The only thing that makes them bearable is the ache in his chest. As long as he's feeling that, as long as that link between him and Harry remains, he knows Harry is still alive.

He doesn't get much time to himself in the aftermath of V-Day, which is probably for the best, but there comes an afternoon when Eggsy at last finds himself alone. He's in the Kingsman barracks, the only one living here now; all the other trainees are dispersed to their other jobs, and Roxy is halfway around the world in her role as Lancelot. He has the entire place to himself.

So there's no one to see as he pulls his shirt over his head and stares at his reflection in the mirror.

His soulmark is unchanged, still a small red crown printed over his heart. When he brushes it with his fingertips, the skin feels the same temperature as the rest of his chest. It doesn't hurt to touch.

He has no idea what his fate will be at Kingsman, if he will be allowed to stay and on what terms. Just yesterday he met his mum at The Black Prince and made it crystal clear to Dean and his gang that they weren't welcome anymore; he's still got the scraped knuckles to show for it. It's the only thing of note he's done lately except sit around waiting impatiently. Merlin has promised him that they will leave for Kentucky and bring Harry home as soon as possible, but it seems like that time is never going to come.

He covers the soulmark. "I'm comin' for you, Harry," he whispers. "I promise."

****

The hospital in Kentucky is packed to the brim, as are all hospitals around the world. Eggsy can barely contain his anxiety as he follows Merlin and an unsmiling nurse through the corridors to Harry's room. He can feel the soulmark on his chest start to glow with warmth, the only warning he gets that they're near. Then Merlin is pushing open a door and going inside, and Eggsy has no choice but to follow.

Harry is sitting on the edge of the bed, waiting for them. He's dressed in his suit, minus the jacket and tie, but with the addition of a wide bandage over his forehead as a new accessory. He looks pale but composed, his hands clasped in his lap.

Then he looks up and he sees Eggsy.

And Eggsy just, oh fuck, he _can't_ , because yeah, he had wanted to see Harry Hart undone, but not like this. 

Never like this.

"Ready to go home, Galahad?" Merlin asks, cheerful as can be.

Eggsy brushes past him and he's crying already, and he doesn't care. Harry stands up, weak and unsteady on his feet, then nearly falls as Eggsy crashes into him.

The soulmark on his chest glows like a live ember, warming him with its promise. It feels like years, like centuries have passed since he last touched Harry. He's been slowly drowning since Harry left that afternoon, slipping beneath dark waves only he could see, but now his head is above water again. He can breathe again.

"I got you," he whispers. "I'm here." Harry holds him back and the pain in his chest has never been so sweet.

They move toward each other at the same time, already falling into the rhythms and patterns that are theirs and theirs alone, two halves of the same heart. And with their first kiss, the bond between them is sealed, one last electrifying jolt passing through Eggsy's entire body as his fate is forever entwined with Harry's.

He forgets about Merlin, the nurse, the hospital around them. He can taste the salt of his tears and so can Harry, but he's beyond caring. There is only Harry and the warmth of his lips. After days of unrelenting pain, he is finally made whole, here in the arms of his soulmate.

**********

 

Three months later he's standing impatiently in the bedroom he and Harry share, holding the Kingsman club tie. "Only you would be late on your first day back."

Completely uncaring, Harry just continues to button his shirt. As he does, the red crown just above his heart – a mark that perfectly matches the one on Eggsy's chest – is covered up and hidden away. "I expect they'll wait," he says.

"Not like you're giving 'em much choice," Eggsy points out.

Harry doesn't even bother to reply to this. He just tucks his shirt in and then fusses a little with it. He's had to get new shirts and new suits made, he's become so thin from the months of recovery and therapy. It shouldn't be long, though, before he's back in his old clothes.

"Here," Eggsy says. "I got this."

He walks over to Harry and drapes the tie about his neck. As he arranges it beneath Harry's collar, their eyes meet.

Eggsy smiles. "Nervous?"

Harry shakes his head, but Eggsy isn't fooled. "Why should I be?"

Eggsy doesn't say anything. He knows Harry _is_ nervous, that he's concerned he won't be admitted back to field duty, that their new Arthur (the former Kay, a man Eggsy likes only a little) will keep him behind a desk.

If that happens, Eggsy's prepared to fight. Harry's worked like hell to recover from the shot that nearly claimed his life. His reward should be full reinstatement, not a half-life spent pushing papers around. Eggsy already knows he'll do whatever it takes to make sure Harry remains Galahad, that Kingsman doesn't screw him over.

He folds the tie over itself and begins making a trinity knot, his latest achievement. It looks really fucking cool, which is one reason for using it today, but mostly he just wants people to take notice of Harry. To see beyond the weight loss and the scar creasing his forehead to the man himself and all his accomplishments.

"Where did you learn that?" Harry asks.

"Me and Roxy taught ourselves," Eggsy says. He bites his lip, focusing on the knot itself. It's a lot different doing it on someone else than on his own tie.

Harry stands still as Eggsy finishes the knot. Eggsy surveys his handiwork, then nods, lower lip pooched out a little in satisfaction. "Not bad."

"More than not bad," Harry says. Eggsy looks up and sees the pride in his eyes.

Impulsively Eggsy leans up on his toes to kiss him. "You're gonna be great," he says. "Can't fucking wait to get out there with you."

"Neither can I," Harry says quietly.

Eggsy wraps both arms around him. As always, he feels a warm glow in his chest when they touch. Nothing has ever dampened that feeling -- not time, not familiarity, not repetition. It gives him a thrill to know that even years from now, he'll still feel that warmth in his soulmark, pulling him toward Harry.

"Don't let those wankers ruin this," he says, his chin resting on Harry's shoulder. That's not entirely fair -- he certainly doesn't consider everyone at Kingsman a wanker -- but he trusts Harry to know what he means. "You got this."

Harry hugs him back, only a slight weakness in his right arm betraying the lingering physical effects of that terrible day at the church.

"I love you so much," Eggsy says.

"I love you, too," Harry replies. He breathes in deep, then lets it out slowly.

Eggsy lifts his head and kisses his cheek. "Ready to knock their socks off?"

"Socks stay on," Harry says dryly, and Eggsy grins.

"Whatever you say."

****

It's a long day, but a good one. Everyone seems genuinely pleased to have Harry back. Harry accepts their welcome-back handshakes and shoulder claps with quiet satisfaction, obviously taking it all as his due.

Eggsy stays close to him throughout the day whenever he can, wary of Harry overdoing things. He still gets tired easily, and when he's tired he's more prone to headaches, and then he gets irritated and his already short temper flares up. But there's no trouble, thankfully. In fact Harry spends most of the day with Merlin, getting briefed and caught up on current affairs. He schedules a day to re-qualify on the shooting range, another day to renew his pilot's license, and arranges a meeting with Amelia to review the latest and greatest gadgets to come out of the tech department.

Eggsy beams with pride all day.

They don't say much on the shuttle ride back to Savile Row. Eggsy mentally plans out their evening: a quick dinner, one of Harry's favorite meals, some quality time in front of the TV, and then early to bed. Not the most exciting of nights, but there's been enough excitement in Eggsy's recent life that he figures they're both due for some plain old boring stuff.

Harry lets them in, and Eggsy follows him inside. It's such a small thing, this moment when he walks into the house they now share, but no matter how shitty his day has been, his heart never fails to lift when he crosses that threshold. This is what he always wanted without ever knowing he wanted it. This was what his heart ached for all those years.

This is what having a soulmate is all about.

"I'll get dinner started," he says. "You should get changed."

"Nonsense," Harry says. "I'll help you."

"No, really," Eggsy says. "I got this. You just get into somethin' more comfortable, yeah?"

Harry glowers at him. "I don't need – or appreciate – being handled with care, Eggsy. I thought we'd been through this."

"It ain't about that," Eggsy says. He washes his hands and talks quickly, the words tumbling over each other in his haste. He's not sure if that makes the lie more believable or not. "It's about me bein' hungry and wantin' dinner quick. Which means I don't need to be bumpin' into you. So just go, would ya?"

He thinks Harry might call him out on his bullshit, but after a long moment, Harry just nods. "All right," he says. "I won't be long."

"Okay," Eggsy says as he opens a cabinet door and pulls out a heavy pot.

He watches Harry go with relief. They bicker and argue sometimes, like any couple; even soulmates don't always get along perfectly. But they've only had one serious fight, one evening when Eggsy felt a sickening twisting pain in his chest that made him want to cry.

It had happened while Harry was still in Kingsman Medical, facing weeks and months of grueling physical therapy and recovery time. After a week of wondering if he was really going to do it, he had finally found the courage to ask Harry the question that had been burning within him for so long. 

"Did you know I was your soulmate, that day we first met?"

"No," Harry had said. "Although I rather suspected."

Eggsy had stared at him. "You suspected."

"I convinced myself I didn't feel anything when we touched," Harry had said. "But there was no denying that my soulmark changed color when I met you. Although I met several different people that day, you were the only one I had physical contact with."

"So you did know," Eggsy had said. The knowledge had been bitter, fueling the ache in his chest. "So then how come you never did nothing about it?" It had hurt to think that Harry had known – or at least strongly suspected – the truth for seventeen years but done nothing about it. He had done nothing to help their family, done nothing to intervene when Dean and his fists entered the picture, done nothing when Eggsy began his slow but inevitable descent into a life of drugs and crime.

Harry had bristled. "Well, I could hardly show an interest in you at that age! What would your mother have said?"

That rational answer hadn't done a thing to calm Eggsy's anger. He had felt sick to his stomach, pain radiating out from his soulmark to encompass his entire body – but he had said the ugly words anyway. "Yeah, but you could've at least fucking helped out a little!"

"Who says I didn't?" Harry had snapped. "Did your mother never tell you of the times when the utility bill was somehow paid even when she had no money? Or the time that she 'won' a hundred pounds to spend at the local supermarket despite never entering any such contest?"

Eggsy had been forced to stand back and think about it. He remembered that occasion well enough; his mum had cried so hard her mascara had run when she opened the envelope and read the letter inside. That had been a few months before she met Dean, before there was money coming in regularly – although at the time they hadn't known the true source of Dean's income.

"I did what I could," Harry had said, more softly, "when I could. But I didn't dare get too close. You had to be free to make your own choices, to live your own life." He had paused, then reached up to touch the crown above Eggsy's heart, a twin to his own. "I had to trust that we would find each other when the time was right." He had smiled, and just that easily, the fight had been over and Eggsy had been able to breathe again. "As we did."

 _Yeah, we did_ , he thinks now as he starts the oven. Above his head, the shower is running. Everything is set for a nice quiet night in.

He couldn't ask for anything more.

****

Dinner isn't anything spectacular, but they both eat well. Harry insists on doing the dishes afterward, and Eggsy grumbles, "I dunno why you even _have_ a dishwasher. You never use it."

"Some things are just better when you do them yourself," Harry says with a satisfied nod at the suds forming in the sink.

Eggsy shrugs. "Suit yourself. I'm gonna change."

He takes a quick shower and throws on a T-shirt and trackies, then goes downstairs, barefoot and with his hair still wet. Harry is just finishing up in the kitchen, and he smiles to see Eggsy. "Perfect timing."

There's nothing good on telly that night. Not that there ever is. They settle for a movie that has lots of colorful explosions and a ridiculous plot. Eggsy sits in the circle of Harry's arm and texts Jamal off and on while Jamal tells him a story about his latest girlfriend. After a while he puts the phone aside and focuses on the last half-hour of the movie, which seems to be one non-stop fight scene between the battered hero and an army of bad guys.

When the movie ends, Eggsy stands up. "Coming to bed?"

Harry blinks up at him in surprise. "It's only ten," he says.

"Yeah?" Eggsy says. "What's your point?" It's been a long day and he can see how tired Harry is; he worries that if they stay up too late, Harry will pay for it with one of his headaches.

"All right," Harry says. "Go on, I'll be right up."

Eggsy hesitates for half a second, debating whether or not to believe this. Most nights he wouldn't be too worried about it, but today is different. Today was Harry's first day back, and he wanted everything to be just right from start to finish.

He decides to trust that Harry means it. "Okay," he says. He gives Harry a quick kiss, igniting a brief spark in the soulmark above his heart, and then goes upstairs.

Ten minutes later, just as he's climbing into bed, Harry appears. Downstairs all the lights are off, the doors are locked, and the security system is engaged. Someday hopefully soon he'll bring JB back here, but a dog has no place in a house where one person is still recovering from a serious injury, so for now the pug is living with Daisy and his mum.

Eggsy waits for Harry to join him in bed. He is perfectly aware that they won't be having sex tonight. He could care less about that. He already has everything he wants.

Utterly content, he nestles up to Harry, resting his head on Harry's chest right where his soulmark is. He can't see that red crown through Harry's pajamas, but he fancies he can feel it on his cheek, a tiny spot of warmth that reaches across the scant distance separating them and wraps itself around his heart.

"Love you," he murmurs.

"I love you, too," Harry replies quietly.

Secure and whole in the arms of his soulmate, Eggsy lies there with his eyes closed. Today was a good day, he thinks. Tomorrow will be even better.

He stifles a yawn. Apparently he's more tired than he thought. 

He waits until Harry falls asleep though, before he lets himself drift off.


End file.
